Family
by Simplintrigued
Summary: It was ok if they didn’t have a family. She’d be their family. They were her boys, and they were her family too.


Sakura had always been a little awkward on the topic of family and parents in her team. It tugged at her conscience to turn down invitations by Naruto to join the team for Ichiraku ramen after a mission or training at times, for she had to have dinner with her family. She always felt uneasy talking about her family together with them. Everybody knew for a fact that Naruto and Sasuke were orphans, but she had never expected her sensei to have a similar past too. That Kakashi's father had committed suicide had shocked her, to say the least. She hated it when she met any of her team members, or sensei when she was out with her family. It just seemed so...so wrong, to be flaunting her family in front of them, when she knew they were still hurting inside. They might all have different ways of hiding it. Naruto with his being cheerful, and almost obsessively optimistic at times, Sasuke, being cold and aloof when sensitive topics were brought out, and Kakashi, hiding behind that stupid perverted book of his when he did not want to answer certain questions. Yet, under their masks, she could tell they were still hurting when like topics were brought up. Naruto's smile would falter, his eyes lowering to the ground, his smiley exterior vanishing in an instant. Sasuke would become even colder, if that were even possible. She had never missed that flicker of hurt that appeared in his eyes for the slightest moment when she had thoughtlessly complained of her mother being a nag, and treating her like she was still a child. His words, she would never forget either. "Be thankful you still have someone to nag at you." Kakashi would stiffen, hesitate a little, then brush the awkward moment away with some incredibly lame excuses, that would somehow lighten the atmosphere considerably. Once, he had pretended not to be able to hear their questions about his family, when they were all a great deal younger. Turning a deaf ear, he had casually flipped a page of his infamous orange Icha Icha Paradise, and proceeded to read out an entire chapter, earning him much amused glances from the males they passed, and scandalised glances of the females. Naruto had flipped totally, losing his head and yelling at Kakashi, shouting stuff between the lines of "PERVERT," and "eew!" She remembered herself screaming at him, and Sasuke smirking, too.

She chuckled a little. Kakashi hadn't changed at all, from the first time they met him, with his silver-grey hair all white with chalk dust. However, she still wondered how exactly they were separated into their various teams. Iruka-sensei had said that he had done so based on their results in the academy, and their skills and expertise, which led to the question of how that had resulted in her being in a team where each member had a tragic past, save her, of course. Was she supposed to balance this out too? She never minded being placed in this team, of course. What with Sasuke being in the team, Naruto being their ever-present dose of sun, and Kakashi being the caring enigma that he was, she loved each member for their quirks and eccentricities. However, being the only member of the team with a whole, happy family had led to a whole lot of uneasiness and awkwardness to her. She sighed, pummelling the muffin in her hand into a pulp, imagining it to have Iruka-sensei's face. She had just turned down another offer to have Ichiraku ramen with the rest of her team after a gruelling training involving goodness knows how many laps around Konoha when Naruto had managed to dunk Kakashi's porn into the lake.

"Gomen, sensei, Naruto, Sasuke, but I have to head home for dinner with- I have to head home for dinner." She had said, stumbling over the taboo words. They had brushed off that moment casually, but she felt the guilt pooling in her tummy. She shouldn't have made a slip like that. Although the rest didn't seem to hate her for it, she felt incredibly guilty. Lost in her own world, she started a little when her mother's voice broke into her reverie. "Sakura, what's that you're busy thinking about? You've been so busy these few weeks we've hardly even had the time to see you. Tell us, how's your training been going along? Getting along well with your team and your sensei?" Sakura smiled, not missing her father's amused snort at his wife's relentless questioning.

"We're getting on really well, save for those occasional clashes when the boys quarrel. Training's been ok, but Naruto dirtied Kakashi-sensei's book today, so we had to run extra laps as punishment," she giggled, the evening's events replaying in her mind. "Your sensei must be a real bookworm," her mother laughed. She shrugged delicately, conveniently glossing over exactly what kind of books Kakashi was interested in. She had a niggling feeling it wouldn't go at all well with her parents.

"Yeah, he is, kind of…"

"Well, Sakura, why don't you bring your team over for a meal one of these days? It's been ages since you brought any of your friends home. Your mother's been grumbling." Her father asked smilingly. It was true. He had hardly seen her since she started taking on missions with her team, and becoming a fully-fledged Kunoichi. He had missed her. It'd be nice to see her friends, so they would at least feel more reassured when she disappeared for days on end when a mission came up. At least, they would know who they trusted their daughter to.

Sakura paused, her muffin just touching her lips, a frown appearing on her face as she thought through her father's invitation. "I'd love to invite them over, but I'm afraid to bring up bad memories, you know?" She hesitated a little, before plunging into her teammates' stories, albeit a slightly edited one. Her parents were civilians, and had no need to know of the blood and gore that coated a Shinobi's life. It wouldn't go well with her parents that as a Shinobi, one had to be subjected to so much danger. However, as much as she edited the stories in her mind, removing instances of blood and gore, the pain and hurt the three had suffered still hung poignantly over the dinner table. "I'm sorry, dad, mum. It's depressing, I know…"

"Silly girl, I understand. It's no harm for them to make more friends right? We'll make them feel at home here."

Smiling, Sakura nodded at her mother. "I'll ask them tomorrow."

The next morning, she trudged towards the bridge where Team 7 always met and waited for their Sensei. They always knew he'd be late, but it seemed almost customary to still arrive on time and start training while waiting for him. Sasuke always claimed a Shinobi had to be responsible and he would spend the time improving his skills, while Naruto always said he had nothing better to do at home. In spite of their excuses and claims, Sakura always knew that as a team, they wanted to be with each other. Their loneliness set them apart from the other teams, making it so terribly difficult for them to bond, but all the same, making their bond so strong, however much the boys claimed to disagree with her.

When Kakashi finally appeared, with a slightly smudged orange book in tow, throwing the chastened Naruto a dirty look, Sakura hastened to ask them. "Sensei, Sasuke, Naruto, how would you like to have dinner after today's training together with my family?"

"Of course, Sakura-chan!"

"Hn."

"That'd be nice, thanks, Sakura."

"Mm, Sensei, please don't take your porn out when you're there."

Giving her an amused look, he tucked his beloved book into his back pocket and set them running. After much groaning and grumbling at Kakashi's training schedule for the day, which consisted of a lot of running, tree-climbing, cliff-climbing and water racing, they headed off for a quick shower before meeting at Sakura's house.

It was pretty awkward, the three of them had to admit. What with Sakura's parents being so friendly, and Sakura fidgeting with her hair every now and then. Kakashi decided he would have to talk to her about keeping her emotions under wraps soon. Shinobi rule 25: A Shinobi must never show his emotions, he thought wryly.

However, as the evening progressed, and they moved from soup to dessert, Naruto's favourite course of the day, yam paste, Sakura found the stifling atmosphere abating. True to her words, her mother had been very welcoming and friendly to her teammates. She smiled to herself as naruto choked on a large spoonful of yam paste and Kakashi had to thump him on the back.

"Dobe."

_Cough. _"Teme! You… Ow, Kakashi-sensei, you don't have to hit so hard!"

As Kakashi paid no attention to the agitated blonde and carried on conversing easily with Sakura's father as if this sort of occurrence happened on a day-to-day basis, which of course it did, Sakura felt a soft warm feeling tugging at her heart, pushing the corners of her mouth up. It was ok if they didn't have a family. She'd be their family. They were her boys, and they were her family too. Chuckling at the sight of Naruto with yam paste down his front, Sasuke smirking behind his hands, and Kakashi looking as if he had not a care in the world and smiling idiotically, she made a mental note to thank Iruka-sensei for putting her in her current team.


End file.
